File Picture : Twitter/ ANI
The Manipur High Court directed that the status quo be maintained at the proposed burial site in Haolai Khopi village of Churachandpur district where the Kuki-Zo community had planned a burial service for 35 people who were killed in the ethnic strife.
The HC order was passed by Acting Chief Justice MV Muralidharan after a hearing at 6 am.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, also agreed to conditionally postpone the burial for five days after requests from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. They said Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga also requested the same.
Earlier, The Kuki-Zo community planned a burial service for 35 people who died in the ethnic strife in Manipur at Lamka town in Churachandpur district on Thursday, a tribal organisation said.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) is organising the burial programme at the Tuibong peace ground. The ITLF, an organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, said in a statement that its chairman Pa Gin Haokip will give a farewell speech on the occasion.
More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundred were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
